A Visit From Data
by yakk0nic
Summary: Captain Geordi Laforge is summoned to Starbase 173 by an old rival. When he arrives he is met by a few old friends, and one very big surprise.


This short story is the result of a discussion I had with a fellow Trek fan on the feasibility of resurrecting Data's character with a different actor in a future Trek film or series. One of the reasons Data was killed off was that Brent Spiner was getting too old to pass as an ageless android. The following takes place about a decade after the events of Star Trek:Nemesis.

**A Visit From Data**

Geordi LaForge jolted awake in his seat as the shuttle craft landed at Starbase 173. The transport had arrived on schedule and it was time for Geordi to disembark. He was looking forward to some time away from the Challenger, but he wasn't sure why he'd been summoned to this station. All he knew was the name of the person who'd invited him: Commander Bruce Maddox.

It was a name he hadn't heard in quite some time, since he and Geordi weren't on the best of terms. Ever since Maddox had attempted to have Data judged a piece of equipment and strip him to his bolts to figure out what made him tick, Maddox had been on Geordi's list.

"Geordi!" he heard a voice cry out as he left the airlock to the shuttle. He turned to see the familiar faces of Will and Deanna Riker. He smiled at them as he waded through a sea of disembarking passengers.

"Will! Deanna! How wonderful to see you!" He embraced them both. The Titan had been on deep space assignment since just after the incident with the Scimitar. After Data's memorial.

Will spoke first, "Geordi, what are you doing here?"

"I was summoned." LaForge grumbled. "By an old _friend._" The word oozed out of his mouth like bad oatmeal.

"Let me guess," Deanna interjected, holding up her orders "Bruce Maddox."

"You too, huh? Well, something's going on. Any idea what it's about?" Geordi eyed them both. They both shrugged. "Well I guess we'll all just have to wait and see. Have you had breakfast?"

The couple smiled in unison "You read my mind" said the Betazoid.

* * *

Will took a seat at the table where Deanna and Geordi were already catching up. "What'd I miss?"

"Oh, just catching up, exchanging rumors about the old enterprise crew." Said Deanna

"Anybody heard from Worf?" Asked Geordi.

"Last I heard he was being replaced as the Klingon Ambassador to be put on another assignment, but I haven't heard much else." said Will. "It was only a matter of time before the life of a diplomat got tiresome."

"I'm surprised he lasted this long" Geordi laughed.

"It wasn't easy." Said a booming voice behind him. The sound was so deafeningly deep it could only have come from one man.

"Worf?" Geordi shouted as he turned to face the massive Klingon. "Let me guess..."

"Bruce Maddox" they all said in unison.

"I must say, I didn't expect he'd invite you, he knows no one who was on the Enterprise liked him all that much," Will joked "I'd particularly avoid you if I were him."

"That is good advice." barked the Klingon. "He is a pitiful man."

"Worf, do you know why we've been summoned here?" Deanna asked.

"I have an idea." Worf explained. "But it's difficult to explain. Come with me."

* * *

"Wait a minute. So you're telling me that Starfleet is trying to build a fleet of Tsungian Androids based on Data's positronic framework?" Riker mused as they made their way from the habitat sphere to the turbolift.

"Not Data's" Worf clarified. "B-4's."

Geordi piped up. "Worf, that's not possible. Data's positronic matrix was far more advanced than B-4's Data's memory engrams couldn't fully assimilate into them. It's just not the same."

"Maddox has been attempting to improve upon the matrix using scans of Data's positronic framework." Worf explained. "Apparently, he's had some success."

"So what are we doing here?" Will asked.

"Apparently we're all here to evaluate his work." Worf explained. "Counselor you're here to evaluate his psychological fitness for duty, Captain LaForge, you still know more about Data's internal workings than anyone in Starfleet, and I'm here to evaluate his viability as a combat platform."

"_Combat platform?" _LaForge shouted.

"That's right, Captain" Worf replied. "Starfleet is creating a prototype for a combat android. It will be specifically designed to fight the most dangerous enemies Starfleet has to offer."

"Worf, I do _not _like the sound of that." Geordi said coarsely.

"I had objections as well, Captain. Data was more than a warrior. He deserves better. Unfortunately, I was overridden by Starfleet Command." Worf said.

The rest of the turbolift ride passed in relative silence. Everyone was still processing what they'd just heard. Will grasped Deanna's hand and squeezed it gently. Hearing of Data's ultimate fate had opened up a lot of old wounds.

* * *

Geordi sat in silence in the briefing room. He stared at his hands, laid palms up on the table. The voices of the others in the room seemed distant, as though he were hearing them through a wall to the next room. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Data had been resurrected. He sat in a laboratory thirty meters down the outside corridor. It was all he could do not to get up and sprint into that lab and say hello to his friend.

"Captain LaForge." he finally heard a voice say. He looked up. The expression on Commander Maddox's face suggested he'd had to repeat himself a few times to get Geordi's attention. "Did you hear what I said?" The others who had been at the meeting filed out one by one. The meeting had apparently been dismissed. Laforge shook his head numbly. "I asked if you can assist me in ascertaining the new android's capabilities."

"To what end?" LaForge mumbled through tersely clenched lips, his voice broke as he said the words, tears were already forming in the corners of his eyes, he swallowed hard.

Maddox softened. He hadn't considered how difficult this was going to be on Data's friends. He'd grown fond of the Android himself over the last few weeks. "I need to know if the android is actually a new android, or if it's Data in a new body, essentially." He said, softly. "From my perspective, it certainly appears to be the latter, however, um..." His voice was almost too soft to hear now. "I, uh... Didn't know him as well as you did."

"Yeah, uh, when do you want to get started?" Geordi said, turning away.

"Take a few minutes and meet me in exam one." Maddox turned and left Geordi alone. Geordi wandered over to the viewport and pressed his forehead against the transparent aluminum, staring out at the stars. He thought about the last time he saw Data. Standing in the corridor outside the bridge of the Enterprise. He watched as Data flung himself toward the containment field just as he decompressed the compartment and sent him hurtling through space toward the Scimitar.

He wondered how things would have been different if he hadn't pressed that button, if he'd been quicker to get the transporters online, or if he'd given Data more than one emergency site-to-site transporter. For a time, they'd considered making it part of his substructure, but Data suggested it be removable in case he needed to transport something, or someone, else. He'd been kicking himself for over ten years. He'd decided long ago that he couldn't have handled the situation any better than he did. However the feeling that he'd failed never quite escaped him.

Geordi crossed the threshold into examination room one where Commander Maddox was waiting for him. "Captain, I'm glad you could join me." said Maddox. "I was just about to activate him." Geordi followed his gaze to a nearby optronics bay. Inside was a man wearing only a pair of shorts, if you could call it a man. He was as tall as a Gem Hadar, and built like an Olympic power lifter. He was designed for combat alright. His hair was cropped short and he had an unmistakably military bearing to him. Geordi imagined it would be a very gifted killing machine.

"Good God..." Geordi gasped. "What the hell is that?"

Maddox spoke up. "It's the Tsung Mark Two. I designed the structure myself. Starfleet wanted an android capable of fighting the Borg without being overwhelmed by their strength and their numbers."

"That'll do it." Geordi quipped, not fully comfortable looking the android in the eyes. "Could you hold off a moment?" Geordi said. "I think Will, Deanna, and Worf will want to be here for this."

"Sure, I'll wait for them." Maddox said with a smile.

"Laforge to Worf" Geordi said tapping his comm badge.

"_Worf here" _

"Do me a favor and grab the Rikers, then join me in exam room one, I think you're going to want to see this."

_"Affirmative, Worf out."_

A few minutes passed as Geordi stared up at the blank, almost angry expression on the android's face. There just wasn't anything there. He never got used to seeing Data like this, but this thing was just terrifying. Soulless, empty, like he could tear out your spine and feed it to you with a smile on his face. Geordi wondered if it smiled.

The door whooshed open and the Rikers filed in behind Worf. Will Riker stopped in his tracks when he spotted the Mark II. "Oh my." he said, slack-jawed. Deanna looked away, almost in horror. Worf looked like he wanted to wrestle with it.

"Meet the Mark Two." Geordi said, with all the enthusiasm of a Vulcan mortician.

Sensing their resistance to the appearance of the android, Commander Maddox spoke up. "He may look frightening, but there have not yet been any changes made to the memory engrams taken from B-4's positronic relays."

"So he's Data?" LaForge asked dryly.

"Well, that's what I'm hoping you could tell me." Maddox said. "I only met Lieutenant Commander Data a few times, and I corresponded with him quite a bit, but he certainly seems like the same android to me."

"Let's get this over with." Riker boomed.

"Yes, Captain." Maddox crossed the room hurriedly, and started to work. After disengaging the optronics bay and disconnecting a few diagnostic cables, he activated the power switch under the port access panel on the cranial unit. The Mark II jolted awake. His intense expression quickly changed to one of passive curiosity, almost surprise. His eyes narrowed from his thousand-yard-stare to examine the room around him. He shot a quick glance at Maddox. "Hello again, commander."

"Hello, Data." Maddox replied. "You have guests."

Data turned to the group watching stunned from across the room.

"Geordi..." Data said, almost in a whisper. He stepped out of the optronics bay and approached LaForge. The whole station seemed to shake as he walked as if they were being hit by an asteroid field. Data glanced at Geordi's collar. "You have been promoted in my absence. Congratulations."

Geordi tried to speak, but nothing would come out. Deanna was already in tears. Worf didn't know whether to hug him or plant an elbow in his solar plexus. Riker just looked angry.

"You do not appear to be happy to see me..." Data said as he glanced at each of his friends.

"That's not it, Data." Riker said, "We're just not happy what they've done to you."

Data Glanced down at his new body, he raised his arm, inspecting the rippling polycarbonate muscle groups underneath the nano-engineered silicon dermal layer. "Ah, yes..." He said as he extended his index finger toward his chest and poked one of his pectoral muscles a few times. "I do find it a little difficult to interact socially with others in my new substructure. The male patrons aboard the station tend to avoid making eye contact with me, and the females seem content to stare from afar."

The tension was instantly broken. Geordi, Deanna, and Will all laughed loudly. Worf smiled and shook Data's hand.

"It is good to see you all" Data said.

* * *

"So what's next?" Geordi asked Commander Maddox, as they sipped coffee and took a seat in the station mess hall.

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." Maddox said. He shifted in his seat. LaForge could tell he had something disturbing to say.

"Starfleet wants me to incorporate several new programs into Data's positronic matrix. Tactical databases, combat manuals, years and years worth of specialized training for hand to hand combat." Maddox explained.

"I thought Data already had access to the complete collection of Starfleet combat training." LaForge said.

"They don't want him to have access to it. They want it to be a part of his programming. They want me to add behavioral subroutines as well, they want him to be the perfect soldier." Maddox said.

"That would completely change his personality, he wouldn't even be Data anymore." LaForge said.

"That's exactly what I told them, and I objected wholeheartedly, but as far as Starfleet is concerned, he's not Data now. He wasn't built to be a new Data, he was built to be a combat model based on Data..." Maddox paused. "Captain, I don't want to do this, but Starfleet is putting me in a very difficult position. If I refuse, they'll just reassign me, and Data will be left in the hands of my successor. I don't know what to do. I was hoping you'd talk to Starfleet Command."

"Why are you trying to help Data? The last time we spoke, you didn't think of him as much more than a piece of equipment. You kept calling him _it_" LaForge glared at the Commander.

"I got to know him." Maddox explained. "I like him."

LaForge smiled. "Yeah..." rising from his seat and placing a hand on Maddox's shoulder. "He does have that effect on people."

* * *

The doors to the exam room opened as Laforge stepped through. Data and the Rikers were listening to Worf tell a story.

"...apparently, when he was given the order to bring the system online, he thought they meant the hydrostatic system, and engaged the pumps while the check valves were still open." Worf said.

"He didn't." Deanna gasped.

"He did." Worf replied. "The entire deck was flooded with super heated hydraulic fluid. It took weeks to clean up."

"Very amusing, Captain." Said Data. "How is Alexander now?"

"He's second in command of the Ch'Tang, he has passed his awkward phase, for the most part." Worf said, beaming with pride.

"You must be very proud." Deanna said.

"Indeed." Data chimed. "I should like to see him again some day."

"You will..." Worf shifted a bit, looking somewhat uncomfortable. "Sort of."

"What do you mean, Captain?" Data asked.

"He means you'll see him again, but you won't be you." Geordi chimed in from the door.

The others looked in his direction. Commander Maddox emerged from his office at the back of the room. "Captain LaForge, you spoke to Starfleet command."

"Yes." said Geordi. "They've ordered me to assist you in replacing Data's behavioral subroutines with the new combat version. Immediately."

"Geordi." Data said. "If that happens, I will no longer be me."

"Yeah, Data, I know." Geordi said. Data looked around at the faces of his friends. Not one wore a smile any longer.

"Damn it, Geordi, we can't let them do this." Riker shouted. "Data's rights as an individual have been clearly defined..."

"That's not Data!" Geordi said. "At least not as far as Starfleet Command is concerned."

Maddox looked devastated. "I had hoped that bringing all of you here and letting you speak with him and tell Starfleet that Data is alive and well in this android would strengthen my case that he should be allowed to refuse the procedure." Maddox explained. "I guess I was wrong."

Riker started toward the door. "I'm going to file an official protest with..."

"It's already been done, Captain..." LaForge interjected. "There's nothing else we can do."

"Captain." Data spoke up. "It is going to be OK. Starfleet is right. I am not Data."

Everyone looked stunned. "When Doctor Tsung created my original body," Data explained. "I was just an empty vessel. Over time he began adding more and more subroutines to my matrix to round out my personality. Eventually he gave me the capability to write those subroutines myself. During that time I was never the personality you think of as Data. But at the same time, I _was_ Data, just at an earlier stage of development. Among the subroutines added to my early matrix were those taken from the androids he'd created before me, like B-4 and Lore. But I was not B-4, nor was I Lore. I was both of them and more. I was Data. This android is not B-4, It is not Lore, It is not Data, it is all of us, and now, it is about to become someone else. He will be his own person. Just as I was. I cannot deny him that. Data had a fascinating life, and then he died. Now it is time for another android to be born out of all that he learned."

Geordi started to speak. "Data, I..."

"I know Geordi. It is not your fault." Data looked toward Maddox. "Nor is it yours, Bruce."

Deanna buried her face in Worf's chest and he wrapped her in a big hug. Will could only stare. He wanted to hurt something. He wanted to choke the short sighted sonofabitch that made this call. But all he could do was watch.

"Captain." Data said. Riker looked up as tears collected in his eyes. "_Pop goes the weasel_."

"What?" Riker said, gasping through tears.

"The song that I was attempting to whistle the day we met on the holodeck..." Data said, as Maddox opened the access port on the side of his head. "It was _Pop goes the weasel._"

Maddox hit the switch, and everything went dark.


End file.
